French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz took sips of pickle juice during the five-hour, 29-minute marathon men’s final against Jannik Sinner on Sunday, the longest-ever at Roland Garros. Alcaraz is not the first nor will be the last athlete to take small portions of pickle juice, known to help stave off the onset of cramps.
There are many examples, recent and from the aughts. Over two decades ago, when temperatures touched 43 degree Celcius in Texas, the American football team Philadelphia Eagles drank pickle juice to stay hydrated during a game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Indian women’s hockey team which finished fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics took shots of pickle juice at the onset of cramps.
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At last year’s UEFA Euros, England full-back Kieran Trippier was seen sipping from a sachet of pickle juice after cramping during the game against Serbia.
Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar, the national record holder, Asian Games and Asian Championship silver medalist, swears by pickle juice as a quick-fix solution for cramps.
What is pickle juice?
Pickle juice is a briny liquid made up of water, salt and vinegar used for pickling. Gherkins, baby cucumbers, are a popular choice for pickling.
The acetic acid in vinegar, a byproduct of fermentation, helps provide immediate relief from cramps, experts say. Brine also contains sodium and potassium, electrolytes the body loses through sweating.
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With it gaining popularity, commercial pickle juice is available in small PET bottles and sachets which may also contain dill oil or starch extracts.
What in pickle juice gives relief from cramps?
Experts believe that it’s the acetic acid which is most effective in stopping cramps. “Nerve receptors in the mouth detect acetic acid in the pickle brine and provoke a neurological reflex in which the brain sends messages to the muscles telling them to relax,” Anita Bean, a sports nutritionist told The Times, London.
Tejaswin, India’s high jump and decathlon national record holder, reckons, going by his practical knowledge, that acetic acid is like a silver bullet for cramps. “It is not just sodium or potassium. We know because it’s in electrolyte drinks and when you have it the cramps don’t stop immediately. Maybe the brine in the pickle juice, or the vinegar or the acetic acid — one of those triggers a neuro reflex that stops the cramping,” Tejaswin told The Indian Express.
Tejaswin uses a band-aid analogy. “This is like a quick fix. I can’t address hydration in the middle of a competition because if I do oral hydration it is going to take time to show results. When you are cramping you need to have something quick, like a pickle juice which puts a band-aid or a pause on the cramping and then you can continue.”
What do top athletes experience?
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Tejaswin usually drinks pickle juice just before or during the high jump, the fourth event in decathlon on the first day. He reasons it is because of two reasons — he is starting to get tired because he has completed three events and also because he is tense ahead of his strongest event.
“I usually cramp right before or during the high jump. If I am cramping too much, I consume two shots but when I run the 400 metres (the event that follows the high jump), I feel really weird in my stomach, and after I finish I throw up for at least 10 minutes. To avoid that I don’t consume it, but just gargle it so it just hits the back of my throat and the cramping stops,” Tejaswin said.
Other than lack of hydration and loss of electrolytes, Tejaswin says a stressed mind can result in tense muscles that can cause a cramp. “It comes down to the fact that it is my most important event, and there is some amount of stress that I carry going into the high jump thinking, ‘I have to maximise my score here’. When you are not relaxed, your body tends to stiffen up, and those tight spots contribute to make a cramp worse. I am also fatigued by the time I reach the high jump because I have already done three events. All these add up,” Tejaswin said.
He also carries a ‘dabba’ of mustard sauce in his bag as an option because he feels it has a similar effect on cramps.
Did the women’s hockey team benefit?
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Yes, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the team’s strength and conditioning coach Wayne Lombard went shopping for pickles with gherkin and vinegar. He carried one hundred servings of pickle juice.
“When it was back-to-back games, the girls would drink that after breakfast, or depending on when the game was. And then, at the onset of cramps they would have additional shots if required,” he had told this paper.
The bronze-medal match, which India lost narrowly to Britain, was played when the temperature touched nearly 40 degree Celsius. “There are two ways to consume it. You either have it as a shot or you can gargle so your membranes get it, and then you spit it out,” Lombard said.